Fringe Replacement

JOHN GALLIANO is stepping in to Donatella Versace's shoes this season - but don't worry he won't be abandoning Christian Dior for Milan, he has been unveiled as the new honorary chairperson of Fashion Fringe at Covent Garden. Galliano will hold the post, as Versace did, for two years, helping to select the cream of British design talent for the initiative.

"I am hoping we find a rebel genius," Galliano said today. "I will look for someone who reminds me of me when I was starting out - someone original, unique, who has their own style and handwriting and isn't afraid to try something new. Fashion sometimes gets scared and plays it too safe - but I want to push boundaries."

Colin McDowell MBE, the founder and creative director of Fashion Fringe at Covent Garden agrees with Galliano - and admits that he, too, is looking for someone experimental.

Advertisement

"Thinking about recent events has made me re-examine what the spirit of London fashion really is - and that is bold, exciting fashion that breaks through the barriers and moves fashion," McDowell asserted. "And, of course, nobody does it with such imagination and fabulous originality as John Galliano. This is the searching, radical spirit we are planning to uncover and bring back to London fashion through its young designers."

But Galliano insists that talent and creativity will not alone be enough to scoop the prize.

"When I started, all I wanted to do was create - I didn't have a clue about business, but it is so important to have good foundations in both," Galliano added. "So many talented designers have been lost or swallowed up by corporate machines because they didn't know how to handle the business side. I learned the hard way."

The application process for Fashion Fringe at Covent Garden 2010 opens today and closes on 30th April. For more information visit www.fashionfringe.co.uk.